The Southern Part of Heaven

There is a good reason that countless publications have called Chapel Hill “the best college town in America.” Take a stroll down Franklin Street and discover the charm that earned Chapel Hill another well-deserved moniker: “The Southern Part of Heaven.”

Chapel Hill is the quintessential college town, a community of 60,000 people built around the University of North Carolina. The nation’s first public university remains at the heart of Chapel Hill, and the 729-acre campus — distinguished by its brick walkways, stone walls and oak trees — ranks as one of the most beautiful and historic in the nation.

Venture a short distance from Chapel Hill to find seven other universities, the state capital of Raleigh, and the Research Triangle Park, one of the largest science and technology research facilities in North America.

A Pure College Town

“Chapel Hill represents a college town, in the best sense. It’s the purest example we could find of a town that is defined by a university.”
– Sports Illustrated

Campus Scenes That Rock

Rolling Stone consistently ranks Chapel Hill near the top of the list of America’s best college music towns.